shaping the future, safeguarding the past NEWSLETTER –No 115 – SPRING 2008 THE CHAIRMAN'S COMMENTARY Our Newsletter has been edited for many years by Paul Fifoot and we are most grateful to him for the professionalism and expertise which he has brought to the work. He has decided that partly, at least, for health reasons he now wishes to give up and devote his time to other matters. We will miss his wise counselling and wish him the very best for the future. Our hardworking secretary Malcolm Boyd has volunteered to edit the Newsletter for the foreseeable future and this will have the advantage that, as a member of the committee, he will be able to consult and confer and suggest the material for new editions. We look forward to working with him additionally in his new guise. Exhibitions at the Mall Ashley and the Ebbisham Centre gave us a further opportunity to display some of our material and enabled us to increase our membership so that we are approaching and should soon reach the 1700 mark. Many members of the public displayed a keen interest in the new and old buildings in the Borough. Thank you Ishbel and the many members of the committee who manned the stand. Geoffrey and I also spoke at the Epsom Club where matters of concern were raised and new members were enrolled. By the time you receive this Newsletter we will have been given a further opportunity to see the proposals which are being made for the future of the Lavandou Stables in Chalk Lane. These plans are giving us cause for concern particularly because of the extra traffic which will be created but also for the loss of training facilities. We think it is important that Epsom should not lose any more of its Horse Racing history. A report by Defra (The Dept. for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) demonstrates concern that the risk of flooding is being increased by the practice of many householders who are paving their front gardens. Defra estimates that, in the last decade, households in London have paved over ground equivalent to 22 Hyde Parks forcing more water into the sewage system. Legislation may require householders to use permeable paving solutions. We hope that the Protection Society will not need to get involved, or will it? 1 Who was Martin Madan ?.There must be dozens of footpaths in the Borough but as far as I am aware few of them have a name. The Rev Martin Madan who lived in Woodcote End House was born in 1726 near Hertford and his parents were well connected. A popular preacher at The Lock Hospital Chapel he wrote 'Thelyphthora' and was unjustly accused of countenancing polygamy. While living in Epsom he used his authority as a magistrate to prevent illegal games in the town during race week and his effigy was burnt in the High Street. His memory is preserved in Madan's Walk, a footpath leading from Woodcote Green to Avenue Road and the path through Rosebery Park. In his day the footpath lead to the fields by the Ashley Road. Harry Corben PLANNING APPLICATIONS Some brief comments only this time as there is plenty of planning elsewhere in the Newsletter. Hudson House (aka Centrale), Station Appraoch: The Planning Committee have approved the application for alterations to the elevations opposite the Station. These include the recolouring of the eastern half of the facade (now red), replacing the red trim between the windows with cedar boarding, adding cedar framing to windows, placing green glazing to the juliet windows instead of steel mesh and other minor works. These alterations result from the use of wrong materials and should improve the appearance to some extent. Capitol House, Church Street: The retail unit facing the Town Hall Car Park is to be used as offices by Gladedale Homes, the developers, for up to three years, by which time we hope proposals for the Town Hall Square will have emerged. From the application we learn that Gladedale have outgrown their offices at Ashley House and have bought the two Courts in Ashley Road and The Parade and propose to redevelop for housing with commercial space for their own use on the ground floor. Sainsbury’s, Kiln Lane: The proposal is to include Halford’s store into Sainsbury’s and to add a small extension at the rear. The appearance will be simplified, and we did not think the increase in the size of the supermarket would unduly affect the Town Centre. We have not therefore objected. Dame Annis Barn, Burgh Heath Road: Following the the refusal of permission to develop, and the withdrawal of the proposed developer, the house is now on the market for £2.5M and we believe No18, which was also included in the proposal, is for sale at £1M. These prices are likely to include some element of speculation that development might be possible, but we are keeping our fingers crossed. Alan Baker 2 CONSERVATION Since the last newsletter, the ‘score’ of applications we have followed up now exceeds 80 since the AGM. Many of these are relatively modest in their conservation impacts, and we write to the Borough as sparingly as possible. Overall, we comment on probably no more than one in five applications affecting conservation areas or listed buildings. We are particularly keen to make sure that proposals fit into their surroundings in terms of their design, without being too slavish to a particular architectural style. Nonetheless, it is surprising how often plans show unsuitable, and sometimes downright ugly, features. Most of the applications we see in the conservation areas or to listed buildings are for extensions of some sort, and most of these are reasonable and well designed and are intended to bring up to date the accommodation of older houses. Provided the design is sensitive and in keeping with the host building and its surrounding area, such proposals are often to be welcomed as they ensure that these buildings are well maintained and do not fall into disrepair. It is frequently the gradual decline of older buildings which allows them to fall into the hands of developers, often with very unsatisfactory results for the surrounding area. Careful updating and modernisation of the facilities gives older buildings a new lease of life, sometimes in another use. An excellent example of this is the Cedars in Church Street which is being converted to flats and where work is proceeding apace. We were concerned that the trees in the back garden were not sufficiently protected from damage, but the Council’s tree officer has been keeping a close eye on this, and proper protection has now been put in place. We mentioned in the last newsletter a fear that the applications for both 51-55 Church Street and Dame Annis Barn in Burgh Heath Road, both of which had been refused, would re-emerge in due course. This now seems a little less likely as two of the affected house in Church Street, and Dame Annis Barn, are on the market. Robert Austen MEMBERSHIP Our membership is steadily increasing; at 1676 we have nearly 100 members more than this time last year. The biggest factor in that was the Exhibition in September in the Mall Ashley [Ashley Centre as most of us still recognise it!] but we also gained members from the Exhibition in the Ebbisham Centre and some through current Members and Road Reps. If you think that you have friends, neighbours or colleagues who might be interested in joining, please contact Ishbel for leaflets and spare Newsletter/s to encourage them to join. 3 Our Road Reps and Distributors are essential to the Society and we are grateful to all 59 of them. However, at the moment there is one area not covered. It is The Ridings with 17 members. I have managed to contact most of the members in this area and they all have good reasons for not being able to do this. Therefore I am looking for offers from someone, perhaps living nearby, who would be prepared to take on this task for the Society of delivering 4 Newsletters a year and collecting subscriptions. If you think that you might be able to help in this way please give me a ring on 01372 728570 for more information. Mrs. Ishbel Kenward - Membership Secretary LAVANDOU STABLES Readers will know that I have been writing comments on this subject for a considerable time. The architects (Turley Associates) and the agents (Savills) have now mounted a display of the proposed development of the Chalk Lane Stable complex and members of your committee viewed it. The proposals provide for a mixed residential and office development with the historic grade II listed riding school converted into a two-floor office facility. There would no longer be any provision for equestrian use. For many years the society has taken the view that the Lavandou Stables, formerly part of The Durdans, should have an equestrian future together with preservation of the listed buildings and we have made this clear in our numerous displays. If this plan is to be accepted, an equestrian future will no longer be possible. Additionally, it is hard to see that the delightful character of the Chalk Lane Conservation Area will not be adversely affected by increased traffic and the presence of an office complex in its midst. Furthermore, I would seriously question the need for more offices in Epsom where it is clear that there is an oversupply of offices. Horse riding and horse racing has been and still is an important and attractive aspect of ‘the Epsom scene’ and it would be a huge pity if these stables with an illustrious heritage were to be lost to the equestrian fraternity.